With a population estimated at over 21 million (and still rising), Lagos is one of the most densely populated cities in the world. As a result of the cosmopolitan nature, it is one of the preferred destinations for many individuals. But over the years, the huge influx of rural to urban migration has posed enormous environmental and social challenges for the city especially in the area of housing, transportation and infrastructure. The insecurity in the north-east as well as social vices in some other parts of the country led to the rapid urban migration in Lagos. In fact, recent findings showed that 86 immigrants enter into the state every hour. (Read more)

Nigeria: EU Ambassador, ‘Ageing’ Europe needs African migrants

European Union (EU) Ambassador to Nigeria Michel Arrion has reportedly said that Europe’s “ageing population” means the continent needs to open up legal channels for Africans to migrate. Mr. Arrion, who heads the EU’s delegation to Nigeria, made this claim at the country’s Bureau of Public Service Reforms, according to tweets published by the government agency’s director general, Dr. Joe Abah. (Read more)

Nigeria : South Africa deported 97 Nigerian citizens after raids

South Africa has deported 97 Nigerians for various offences following a series of raids, Nigerian officials said, amid heightened bilateral tensions over anti-immigrant violence in South Africa. Abike Dabiri-Erewa, senior special assistant to Nigeria’s president on diaspora matters, said « Some of them claimed they were returned for irregular migration offences when the South Africa authority withdrew their voluntary work permits that it had hitherto given to African migrants, and made … work permits more difficult to get, ». (Read more)

UK efforts to tackle the migration crisis in the Mediterranean are « some distance away » from having a measurable impact, the independent aid watchdog has found. The watchdog also raised concerns that some programmes risked causing « unintended harm to vulnerable migrants », particularly in Libya, one of the main embarkation points for migrants risking the treacherous sea crossing. The Independent Commission for Aid Impact (ICAI) also criticised as unhelpful a tendency by the Government to rebrand existing aid programmes as migration-related when they were not designed with that aim. (Read more)

Nigeria launches new harmonized departure, arrival cards

The Nigerian government has launched the newly harmonized departure and arrival cards at the Kaduna International Airport.The Minister of Interior Abdulrahman Dambazau, while launching the new cards, said they were introduced as part of the federal government’s efforts to improve the ease of doing business as well as attracting investors to the country. Dambazau noted that the introduction of the new cards were in line with international best practices and in pursuit of the federal government policy of « ease of doing business » and to keep record of movement of international passengers. (Read more)

EU to open migration centres in Africa because Europe ‘Needs 6 million migrants’

The European Union (EU) is to open asylum processing centres in West Africa and countries on the southern shore of the Mediterranean because the continent “need[s] six million migrants”, Commissioner for Migration Dimitris Avramopoulos has said. Speaking in Geneva, the Greek Eurocrat denied terror attacks are linked to migration and warned the “biggest threat” to Europe is “the rise of populism, nationalism and xenophobia”. Declaring “the 27 [member states] will need 6 million immigrants in the future”, Avramopoulos explained the Commission is going to open reception centres to recruit migrants, because an open borders approach would fuel populism.“We will open offices in all countries on the southern shore of the Mediterranean and in West Africa. This is the best way to fight smugglers.” (Read more)

The Federal Government has unveiled a new immigration policy known as “Immigration Regulations 2017’’ to check the entry of terrorists and other trans-border crimes in the country. The Minister of Interior, Abdulrahman Dambazau, while unveiling the document, explained that the “Immigration Regulations 2017’’ is a vital document that seeks to operationalise the Immigration Act, 2015 and provide the legal framework for the dynamic and unfolding migratory realities. Mr. Dambazau said the new regulation would replace the old and outdated Immigration Act of 1963, which could not take care of modern realities such as terrorism, technology and new immigration challenges. (Read more)

Straddling two worlds: highly skilled migrants from Senegambia and Switzerland

While discussions of African migration often focus on those escaping war, poverty, or political instability in Africa to find a better life in Europe, migration channels that include highly skilled migrants flow in both directions. Even as there has been significant research into the social, political, and economic dimensions of highly skilled migration, understanding of the individual life experiences and livelihoods of these immigrants remains limited. This holds true for highly skilled migrants from Senegambia (the West African region comprised of Senegal and The Gambia) in Switzerland—a newly popular destination for highly educated immigrants in fields such as accounting, engineering, and the sciences—as well as Swiss migrants in Senegambia. Personal accounts of these immigrants demonstrate numerous similarities between the experiences and activities of the two groups, while also revealing a few key differences. (Read more)

8 ways Nigeria can save the lives of Nigerians in South Africa – Official report

Xenophobia in South Africa has led to the killing and persecution of other nationalities including Nigerians. The constant attacks and the underlying hatred have been a source of concern to Nigeria and Africa at large. NOIPolls presented a poll, which gauged the perceptions of Nigerians on migration and vital socio-economic attributes relating to migration, as well as the perceptions of Nigerians on the xenophobic attacks in South Africa.The first part of the poll was aimed at finding out the percentage of Nigerians leaving in foreign countries and the poll result showed that about 61% of Nigerians have relatives living and abroad, and though the highest is the United States of America with 67%, the third is South Africa with 31%. (Read more)

The International Organisation on Migration (IOM) and the Ghana Immigration Service (GIS) has launched a nationwide training programme on the use of the newly developed GIS Legal Handbook. Thirteen trainings are being rolled out in 10 regions of the country between March and April 2017 for approximately 500 immigration officers. According to an official site of the IOM, the first of the five-day trainings began in the three northern regions of Ghana and covered the constitution, immigration, security and investment-related laws, as well as relevant international protocols and conventions. (Read more)

Nigeria’s e-Passport Database In Malaysian Firm’s Custody

The Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS) is not in charge of the country’s e-passport central database where all travel documents of its citizens are stored. Investigations by LEADERSHIP has revealed that over ten years after the federal government, through the NIS, entered into a public private partnership with a Malaysian based firm, Irish Technology Limited (ISTL), for the upgrading of travel documents of Nigerians to an internationally compliant e-passport, the Service is still not in charge of the central database. According to experts, the development is a dangerous trend that puts Nigerians at risk, as their travel documents could easily be tempered with by a foreign firm that chooses to be mischievous. (Read more)

Ghana: Regular and irregular Migration – A comparative investigation of opportunities and perils of seeking greener pastures in Italy

They took different paths to their desired destinations, Italy or somewhere close – one through regular migration, (acquiring a visa and traveling by air) and the other through irregular migration, (taking the perilous journey by road from Ghana through Niger, to the Sahara Desert and Mediterranean Sea ostensibly enroute to Italy). But Ms. Adjoa Agyeiwaa, the regular migrant and Mr. Stephen Adjei, the irregular migrant, had one goal in common: to travel to Italy to seek greener pastures for themselves and secure a better life for their families back home in Ghana. (Read more)

IOM Launches Reintegration Projects for West African Migrants with EU Trust Fund Support

IOM Niger is launching 20 community-based reintegration projects for over 3,000 returning migrants in five of the primary countries of origin – Senegal, Guinea Bissau, Mali, Guinea Conakry and Cameroon – with support from the EU Emergency Trust Fund for Africa and as part of the Migrant Response and Resource Mechanism (MRRM). These activities will be carried out between March and September 2017, the implementation time estimated for the reintegration projects. An additional 3,000 members of local communities will benefit from these projects. (Read more)